Polara_500
Well-Known Member
Once again my ability to extend any little project to a major, time eating fiasco is biting me in the butt. A few years ago I picked up a rust free but somewhat battered 87 W250 with a 360/NP435 for a veritable song. As is usual with these deals come the "small" fixes that are required to bring the vehicle to a desirable status. When I attempted, ~ 2 years ago to fix an annoying exhaust leak, the "small, easy" fix that I was attempting snowballed entirely out of control...... 
Of course the exhaust manifold on the passenger side had a broken stud so that had to be corrected to allow the new gasket to seal effectively. Also of course, the broken stud resisted all efforts to remove said stud while the engine was intact elsewise, leaving the obvious course of action to remove the offended cylinder head so that it could make a journey to the local machinist for treatment. This part actually went well, it was on removal that one was able to see the imprints of valve heads upon the top surface of a couple of pistons. For some reason that sight did not imbue me with large amounts of confidence that the engine would survive very long with only new gaskets involved. So, about a year and a half ago the abused engine was removed so that it may be replaced with a recently rebuilt engine that became available about then. Needless to say this was not/has not been my only endeavor over the past 2 years and several other projects have come and gone, some of which have actually been completed while others have progressed well enough to call intermittent stages adequate to allow returning said items to service until further efforts are required. Be that as it may, this poor W250 has lingered in the shop with minimal work completed in the meantime but I have just this past week recommenced work on it. Due to the lapsed time involved here and the fact that the area around the truck has not been undisturbed, I seem to be spending an inordinate amount of time attempting to locate various necessary items, most recent of which is the transmission to bellhousing bolts - I found 2, but for some reason the other 2 have migrated to some obscure spot that eludes me. Minor, yes..........Trivial, yes........... Irritating and effectively stifling any semblance of speed in finishing this project, HE** YES.
Okay, that's now off my chest and I feel better, now I'm heading to the parts store to dig through the bolt bins.......
Mike
Of course the exhaust manifold on the passenger side had a broken stud so that had to be corrected to allow the new gasket to seal effectively. Also of course, the broken stud resisted all efforts to remove said stud while the engine was intact elsewise, leaving the obvious course of action to remove the offended cylinder head so that it could make a journey to the local machinist for treatment. This part actually went well, it was on removal that one was able to see the imprints of valve heads upon the top surface of a couple of pistons. For some reason that sight did not imbue me with large amounts of confidence that the engine would survive very long with only new gaskets involved. So, about a year and a half ago the abused engine was removed so that it may be replaced with a recently rebuilt engine that became available about then. Needless to say this was not/has not been my only endeavor over the past 2 years and several other projects have come and gone, some of which have actually been completed while others have progressed well enough to call intermittent stages adequate to allow returning said items to service until further efforts are required. Be that as it may, this poor W250 has lingered in the shop with minimal work completed in the meantime but I have just this past week recommenced work on it. Due to the lapsed time involved here and the fact that the area around the truck has not been undisturbed, I seem to be spending an inordinate amount of time attempting to locate various necessary items, most recent of which is the transmission to bellhousing bolts - I found 2, but for some reason the other 2 have migrated to some obscure spot that eludes me. Minor, yes..........Trivial, yes........... Irritating and effectively stifling any semblance of speed in finishing this project, HE** YES.Okay, that's now off my chest and I feel better, now I'm heading to the parts store to dig through the bolt bins.......
Mike
